Advice on this lighting setup please...

[Big Gulp]

So I'm getting a 24x24x48 cage soon. So I want to upgrade my lighting. How is this setup if I have enough shade in the enclose? Too much light/UVB? Too little? Is 6% better? Can I use a 5000k light instead of the 6500k?

Also, does the 6% give off more UVB than a ReptiSun 10.0? What about the Arcadia 12% vs the ReptiSun 10.0?

So many questions, I apologize. But I'm not really well versed when it comes to lighting/UVB.

Thanks all!

 

[Venutus1]

So I'm getting a 24x24x48 cage soon. So I want to upgrade my lighting. How is this setup if I have enough shade in the enclose? Too much light/UVB? Too little? Is 6% better? Can I use a 5000k light instead of the 6500k?

Also, does the 6% give off more UVB than a ReptiSun 10.0? What about the Arcadia 12% vs the ReptiSun 10.0?

So many questions, I apologize. But I'm not really well versed when it comes to lighting/UVB.

Thanks all!

An Arcadia 12% HO t5 would be ok if the tank is heavily planted so they have plenty of shade to go into.
Allot of folks with 4 foot tall cages and plants are doing the 12% used in conjunction with a 6.5 kelvin color temp daylight bulb.
ie: a double bulb HO t5 fixture.
with one Arcadia and one 6.5k daylight bulb.

But if it is sparsely planted and there is not much shade, better go with the 6% bulb.
So do a 2 bulb fixture with one 6% HO t5 bulb and one 6.5k kelvin daylight bulb.

The numbers of 5% , 6% 10% and 12% are referring to the bulbs total light energy out-put in a percentage that is in the invisible UVB range.
So --- assuming the bulbs wattage is the same, then yes, 10% is less than 12% in overall UVB.

Now, the UV bulbs also put out UVA, and that is important too.
Arcadia puts out 30% UVA and here is why that is good:

"UVA:
Unlike humans, who have ‘trichromatic’ vision, enabling us to see only three primary colours - red, green and blue, we now know that many reptiles, amphibians and other species, have ‘tetrachromatic’ vision. This enables them to see the shorter UVA wavelengths (320-400 nm) of the spectrum that form a part of natural sunlight. Reds are redder and greens are greener – life without UV would be the equivalent of us seeing everything in black and white, only worse. This UVA, or fourth primary, can be critical for behaviour and even affect appetite. A reluctant feeder may need UVA light to stimulate its appetite. UVA is also needed to induce reproductive behaviour. Lizards have been found to possess ultra violet reflectance patterns on their skin, which indicate reproductive glands in particular. Female panther chameleons seek out UV light when preparing to lay eggs. Depriving a reptile of UVA light would be like making it live in a darkened room."

And here is the skinny on UVB and vit D synthesis:

http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/the-d3-cycle/

Hope this helps
Thanks!
Todd
[email protected]

 

[Big Gulp]

Thanks for the response Todd. Like a dummy I forgot to put the link in my original post of the setup I was looking at. Here it is... http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/24hot5dobufi2.html

So, is that setup 3 bulbs total? Or two? Looks like there's 3 bulbs in the pic. But it says double bulb.

Also, this light will be sitting on top of an LLL Reptile cage (24x24x48). I plan to have a hanging pothos, along with a shefflera plant on the bottom. That'd be plenty cover if I went 12%, yeah?